ABSTRACT
Research on small arms and light weapons (SALW) flows into and within conflict areas has developed significantly, but unevenly, since academic and policy interest in these tools of violence first arose in the early 1990s. There is now a wealth of information on flows to particular conflicts or conflict actors and a vast associated policy-oriented literature. In both academic and policy communities a focus on large international transfers of SALW and ammunition has dominated research and publications (Bourne, 2004; Khakee and Florquin, 2005: 159). An oversimplified image of the spread of SALW to conflict has thus emerged. This ‘amorphous image' (Bourne, 2004, 2007) emphasises a vast stock of SALW circulating in a global-level illicit (or less-than-legal) market, which is accessible to all conflict actors through the actions of irresponsible arms brokers (Bourne, 2004: 64–70; 2007: 34–39). This image implies that SALW flows to conflicts are shaped largely by global-level structures, that availability and accumulations of SALW in one region are easily translated to accessibility in any region (Bevan, 2005b: 187), and that an actor's access to arms depends mainly on their financial resources or the patronage of a state. Moreover, it tends to homogenise all SALW flows to conflicts: neglecting regional variations in arms acquisition processes and the specific structures and dynamics that shape flows and patterns of acquisition.
